


the hot dads club

by _helios (neocitz)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Parents, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 07:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17638649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neocitz/pseuds/_helios
Summary: Johnny has a crush on Kun from the PTA meeting.His husband thinks it's cute.





	the hot dads club

Johnny swings the car into a dim, dark corner of the parking lot. He cuts the engine, silence filling the car, and looks at the crowds of people meandering towards the school’s entrance. They’re laughing, _chatting_ , as they intermingle, and he doesn’t want to go inside.

Neither does Taeyong.

‘What if we just left? Said we had something on?’ he suggests, even as he unbuckles his seatbelt. ‘No-one would know that we’re here.’

‘We would be eaten _alive.’_

‘You can’t know that.’ Johnny steps out of the car, even as everything inside him screams to get back in the car, drive home and curl up on the couch with his husband. Taeyong locks the car as they fall into step, making the long trek toward Hell. ‘We could be fine, we can’t get in trouble for it.’

‘We’re going to the meeting.’

‘How about burgers? When was the last time we went on a date without the kids? Didn’t you say that it was time for the pair of us to have some time for ourselves?’ Johnny tugs Taeyong into his side, looking down at his husband with as charming a smile as he possibly can. ‘No Donghyuck to steal the fries, no Mark to pick out the tomato. Not even Jisung crying over the ice-cream.’

Taeyong, as always, doesn’t fall for it.

‘How many weeks have I been asking for a date?’ Despite his words, Taeyong laughs and the smile on his face is so sweet that Johnny can’t help being struck dumb for a moment. ‘And all it takes is the fact that you’re _terrified_ of a few parents.’

‘Don’t pretend you’re not afraid.’

‘The difference is that I’m not considering running away.’

‘I’m not considering running away,’ Johnny protests, voice dropping as they get closer to the staircase that leads up through the body of the school. ‘I’m just considering a strategic retreat.’

‘Babe,’ Taeyong says, giving a fake wave to Michael-and-Dawn as they join the crowd of parents, ‘don’t lie to yourself.’

Johnny nods politely at Lin-and-Bernadette. Last time he had met the couple, they had smiled politely at Johnny and Taeyong and then scoffed about the school next door as if it were worth dust. ‘Well, you can’t blame me. They’re all _awful_ here, babe.’

‘The boys are happy here.’

And that’s all they need, and Johnny knows that.

He presses a kiss to Taeyong’s forehead, before stepping away from his husband’s side. It feels like the entire school’s population is here, squeezed in a hallway that leads down to the auditorium where the meeting is held. Johnny knows that Taeyong hates it, the crowds converging around them, and hopes there is a dark corner that the pair of them can hide in until the meeting is over.

‘One hour,’ he breathes. ‘For the boys.’

 

 

Johnny and Taeyong settle into a corner of the room, as far away from the podium as they can. It feels almost like college again, except instead of lectures about economics, they’re about volunteering at the next sports day. Taeyong’s already shifting in his seat, slouching the way he did when he wasn’t interested in what the lecturer had to say.

‘If you’re going to make me come to this, you’re going to pay attention.’ Johnny whispers, trying not to remember the same way he’d lean over in the middle of class and distract Taeyong when they were nineteen, twenty, twenty-one.

He has to keep in mind that his kids’ school is _not_ his old college lecture hall, and there are definitely things he can’t get away with now.

(That he should not have gotten away with then.)

That doesn’t stop him from reaching over, squeezing Taeyong’s thigh. Just to remind me.

‘Don’t you _dare_.’ Taeyong’s hand is like a vice around Johnny’s wrist, and Johnny keeps his smirk on his face just because he knows it’ll make Taeyong that bit madder. Sure enough, Taeyong’s eyes are dark as he pushes Johnny’s hand away. It would be hot, if not for the fact they’re surrounded by the worst people they could possibly be surrounded by.

‘I’m joking,’ Johnny whispers, pressing a light kiss to Taeyong’s lips to soften his frown. It’s brief, and enough to make Taeyong’s expression fade into an adorable, fond frustration. Taeyong sighs, and even though he says he hates Johnny they both know that that’s a lie.

‘I wouldn’t risk anything.’

Johnny springs away from Taeyong.

Behind them is a man, about the same age as the pair of them. He’s not looking at them, eyes fixed on where the small group of parents who lead the meeting are starting to organise themselves on stage. But he’s smiling, with a hint of teeth and a flash of dimples, in that pointed way that almost makes Johnny feel guilty.

‘We weren’t…’

‘Oh, I don’t care what you do,’ the man says, his gaze turning to the pair of them, ‘but Pete and Deborah have eyes everywhere.’

‘Pete and Deborah?’

The man leans forward, resting on the back of Taeyong’s chair with a small smile on his lips. ‘They’re the parents who are in charge of the PTA. I’m guessing one of them approached you on your first day here and was the one to talk you into coming to this thing. They find out you’re… goofing off… and it’ll be shameful looks all around.’

His eyes are warm, and move between Taeyong and Johnny with a practiced, patience ease. Johnny can’t help glancing at Taeyong, who’s always a little more uncomfortable even when not caught off guard, and lets out a small exhale because Taeyong doesn’t look stressed at least.

‘Pete is in charge of volunteering around the school, helping the teachers and stuff. Deb runs all the fundraisers, which are a _bitch_ and a half. Just put your name down for Athletics Day next month or something, but _don’t_ agree to anything else.’

‘Are they really that bad?’ Taeyong’s brow raises ever so slightly, and the man lets out a little laugh that’s all the answer they need. It’s a little like Taeyong’s, which makes it _very cute_ , and Johnny realises in that very moment that he might be fucked.

 

 

‘We didn’t catch his name,’ Johnny laments as he and Taeyong make their way back from where sign-up sheets are being handed around. They had taken the handsome stranger’s advice, Johnny was volunteering for Athletics Day while Taeyong would bake something for a bake sale in two weeks. ‘Taeyong, I think I fell in love at first sight. _Again_.’

Taeyong rolls his eyes, knocking Johnny lightly at his only slightly dramatic take on the whole situation. ‘His name is Kun, he has two sons called Renjun and Chenle. Renjun is in Mark’s class and has choir with Donghyuck, Chenle is a year above Jisung. He works as an accountant.’

‘When did he say all that?’

‘About three minutes after you got distracted by his dimples,’ Taeyong smiles up at Johnny, but his eyes have that dangerous little spark that Johnny fell in love with when they were eighteen. ‘which I think he _may_ have noticed.’

‘I scared off the cute guy, didn’t I?’

The walk away from the school is far less terrifying than the walk towards it. Their hour is up, and even though they had to listen to discussions about drop-off etiquette, and whether or not the school needed a chess club, Johnny would say that the night wasn’t completely lost.

There’s no-one around them, the other parents still chatting between themselves. But Taeyong and Johnny just want to get back to their three boys, rescue them for Jaehyun’s half-decent attempts at babysitting.

Taeyong shakes his head, ‘I don’t think you did.’

 

 

Johnny and Taeyong don’t see Kun again for two weeks.

‘Why are we awake?’ Donghyuck groans out, head tipped against the window as Johnny pulls the minivan into the school parking lot. He’s been whining since they left the house in the harmless way that makes Johnny sure that he’s complaining for effect and not because he’s actually tired. ‘It’s too early, Dad.’

‘I’m fairly sure I saw someone wide awake and watching his cartoons, not even an hour ago,’ Johnny says, glancing at the three boys through the rear-view mirror. ‘Did you suddenly get attacked by the sandman between the TV and school?’

Donghyuck hums something that sounds like agreeance.

‘And was the sandman your other dad?’

Taeyong is best described as not a morning person, and is notorious in their house for pulling their sons into bed for a cuddle instead of letting them get ready for school. Johnny wouldn’t be surprised if Donghyuck was the victim of said cuddles that morning, from the boy’s reluctance to go to school.

‘Is everyone else awake, at least?’

‘I’m awake,’ Mark says, looking up from the book that he had in his lap. His glasses slip down his nose a little bit and Johnny has to lean over to push them back up, letting out a soft laugh. They’re a new addition, and thankfully their oldest isn’t self-conscious about them. Probably, Johnny thinks, because he and Mark have matching glasses.

‘What about you, Jisung?’

His youngest is engrossed in the school crowd outside the window, fingers pressed against the glass despite the fact he definitely knows he’s not supposed to do that. He turns around and blinks at Johnny, before nodding, ‘I’m awake, Dad.’

‘Good,’ Johnny unbuckles his seatbelt before climbing out of the car.

He takes a moment, when he’s outside and the kids inside, to breathe. The thing is that no matter how much he loves his boys, getting all three from the carpark to the school is a _trial_. Donghyuck always wants to run off to the playground, Mark falls behind because he gets fascinated by the smallest thing, and the closer they get to the front entrance the more Jisung remembers that he hates school.

‘Okay, let’s hustle,’ Johnny says, reaching to unbuckle Jisung from the small booster seat in the middle of the car. The older two are quick to slither out of the van, Donghyuck slamming one of the doors closed behind him. ‘Mark hold Jisung’s hand for me, please.’

Johnny keeps one eye on Donghyuck, who is leaning against the car door still, as he pulls their school bags out from the back of the van. Their lunches bounce around from the rough treatment, but he doesn’t care too much as he unzips Mark’s bag so his eldest can put his book away.

‘I don’t want to go to school,’ Donghyuck groans, even as he pulls his backpack on. ‘It’s so _boring_.’

‘Well, if you want, you can stay with me and we can clean the entire house together,’ Johnny says, because if there’s one thing Donghyuck hates more than school, it’s having to clean. He’s sure that Donghyuck will let out a groan and decide that school is more fun.

Instead, Donghyuck gives him a disgusted look. ‘You don’t even know how to clean properly, Dad.’

Johnny lets out a scandalised gasp. ‘Who said that?’

‘Other Dad.’

Johnny tries not to let the words fester, he _tries_ to clean properly but Taeyong’s expectations are so high that it’s perhaps led to more arguments than they like to think about. He’s tried, and he keeps the house tidy enough on the days Taeyong’s at work, but he knows it’ll never be enough.

‘I think you clean the house really well, Dad,’ Mark whispers.        

 

 

Johnny doesn’t realise that Kun is watching them until he’s frogmarched Donghyuck, Jisung and Mark off the carpark and onto the safety of the grass. He’s more concerned with ensuring that none of his kids get hit by the reckless drivers that are impatient parents than who’s watching him and who isn’t. But then Kun’s laughing, and he’s smiling and walking up to Johnny.

Johnny has about two seconds to decide to use his children as a shield before Kun stops in front of him.

‘I’ve never seen someone so determined to cross a carpark before.’

‘It’s a special skill,’ Johnny says and tries to ignore the way Donghyuck whispers out a horrified _what_ at the statement. ‘Gotta be quick when you’re wrangling three.’

‘I can imagine, I have enough trouble with these two.’

It doesn’t look it. Both of Kun’s sons are standing perfectly calm by his side, no need for frogmarching or clinging to backpacks to ensure they don’t run off. The oldest of the two waves at Mark, a little shier compared to the broad grin of his younger brother.

‘This is Renjun, and Chenle,’ Kun says.

‘Mark, Donghyuck and Jisung.’ Johnny makes a special effort to ruffle each boy’s hair as he introduces them.

‘Pleasure to meet you all,’ Kun says, holding his hand out to shake Mark’s hand first. He laughs, when he gets to Jisung and the youngest boy shyly takes it. He looks up at Johnny through his laugh and smile, and Johnny thinks that he might be in trouble.

‘I didn’t think I’d run into you again,’ Johnny lies, through his teeth. His smile is too wide and he’s laughing too loud and Mark is entirely suspicious from the way he looks up at him with a little frown dipping on his brow. ‘How have you been?’

‘We’ve been well, haven’t we?’ Kun looks down at his own two children. Renjun nods. ‘Renjun, do you want to tell Mark about the acrylics we bought last week?’

It’s an easy opening and Renjun looks that bit shy in the face of the three boys in front of him, but Mark is quick to step forward and ask him about it. Johnny can’t help but feel the flush of pride as his eldest brings the three of them together.

‘How about you?’ Johnny asks, when the boys as suitably distracted. ‘How’s work? You’re an accountant, aren’t you?’

Kun laughs. ‘I didn’t think you remembered that!’ He leans forward, and Johnny cannot deal with this kind of genuine joy so close to him. ‘It’s been good, work’s not been too hard and the hours aren’t too bad. I get to spend a lot of time with the boys.’

His smile is fond, as he glances back to the boys again and Johnny can definitely confirm that he is _fucked_.

 

 

 

The day of the Sports Day is hot, muggy and filled with more children than Johnny has ever seen in one place. He is suddenly really understanding of why they needed as many volunteers to chaperone as they did. Donghyuck and Mark are decked out in green, wrapped in feather boas and slathered in face paint, on the stands and Johnny is both amused and amazed.

He’s made a promise to watch both of their races.

‘What’s Renjun participating in?’ he asks, shading his eyes with his fingers as he looks to the small group of students preparing for a relay. He and Kun are on ribbons duty, which is one of the better jobs, and he cannot believe his luck. ‘Mark mentioned they’re doing the three-legged-race together.’

‘Egg-and-spoon, I think.’ Even though they’re under cover, Kun takes a sip from his outrageously large bottle of water and readjusts the wide-brimmed hat on his head. Everything about him screams uncool, but sun-safe.

Johnny is ridiculously attracted to it.

‘Mark’s not in that one, he’s in the wheelbarrow race.’ Johnny is desperately trying to pay attention to the kids who are lining up across the sports field. He can’t help glancing at Kun. Kun with his steady, patient gaze and his singular focus fixed on Johnny.  It’s intimidating and alluring. ‘Donghyuck’s in the long jump.’

‘With the boa? That’s going to be an interesting sight.’

‘He has a lot of house pride.’ Johnny doesn’t really get it, his school never had any sort of house system for their sports teams, but the boys have bought into it and thrive off the competition. Just last week, he found Donghyuck and Mark practicing chants about their house winning. It would have been cute, if it wasn’t at ten-thirty at night and right next to Jisung’s bedroom.

‘Speaking of, you _did_ put sunscreen under the zinc cream, right?’

He points to Johnny’s forehead, where a green N had been carefully carved out in zinc cream by Donghyuck that morning. Johnny flashes back to sitting on the couch, as Donghyuck and Jisung scraped the stick across his skin while Taeyong rubbed Mark down with more sunscreen than their eldest needed.

‘I knew I forgot something,’ Johnny groans.

Kun laughs, reaching down to the sunscreen that they’ve kept in the tent and offered to every child whose come through. ‘I don’t mean to alarm you, but there’s a chance you’ve already started burning. It’s going to be an interesting look.’

‘Thank God it’s Friday,’ he says, pushing his hair back out of the way and squinting at the laptop screen. He can kind of see his reflection, and tries dabbing the sunscreen as close to the letter as he can. Donghyuck would kill him, should his handiwork be ruined. ‘My co-workers wouldn’t let me live this down.’

‘I’ll do it,’ Kun says, cupping Johnny’s jaw and pulling him down to make them level. When he looks into Johnny’s eyes, his gaze darkens just slightly. It’s one of the hottest days in weeks, but Johnny feels a shiver run down his spine. ‘You should take better care of yourself.’

‘I will,’ Johnny says, throat dry.

He only looks away when the race starts.

 

 

 ‘You look like an idiot,’ Taeyong laughs, shaking the bottle of aloe vera as he guides Johnny to sit down on the bed. ‘A very cute idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.’

‘I can’t believe I forgot sunscreen.’

Johnny had thought he was fine, until he wiped off the zinc cream and the flush of the summer day had faded from his skin. Then he realised that the centre of his forehead was a _lot_ less pink than the rest of his face.

‘You always do,’ Taeyong murmurs, ‘it doesn’t look as bad as it could have been though. It was _awful_ today, I can’t believe they went through with the event. Imagine if the kids had gotten sunstroke or something like that.’

Johnny flinches away at Taeyong’s soft touch. ‘Cold,’ he whispers, looking at Taeyong’s soft little smile as his husband spreads the cool gel against his burning skin. It’s over quick, but Johnny doesn’t move and tugs Taeyong into his lap. ‘It would have been worse, but Kun caught it early.’

‘You have to tell me about that, by the way.’ Taeyong drops the aloe vera bottle down onto the bed as he shifts into a more comfortable position. He presses a small kiss right into the centre of the N in the middle of his forehead, before pulling back to smirk down at Johnny. ‘Donghyuck told me that you were smiling all goofy.’

Johnny groans, ‘I wasn’t _goofy_.’

 

 

As luck would have it, Mark and Renjun get along _very_ well after the whole three-legged-race together. Childhood is a time when best friendhood is decided by announcement, and not by years of closeness. Still, Mark hasn’t had a best friend outside of Donghyuck before, and both Taeyong and Johnny had worried that he would struggle to make friends at his new school.

‘Renjun and his family are coming over for dinner, so we’re going to be our best behaviour,’ Taeyong warns the boys. Mark nods, a frantic excited bounce because this is _the first time_ he has invited a friend over to their new house, but Donghyuck and Jisung barely listen from where they’re lying in front of the TV. ‘ _Boys?’_

Johnny shrugs, from where he’s folding the laundry, because there’s only so much you can do against a six- and eight-year-old and their cartoons. Taeyong coughs once, and it’s enough to at least startle Donghyuck out of his TV-induced reverie.

‘We should be nice,’ Donghyuck says, rolling over to look up at Taeyong. ‘And Dad shouldn’t stare at Mr Qian with his weird smile.’

‘I don’t have a weird smile,’ Johnny protests, dropping the socks he’s trying to sort out.  

‘Yeah you do,’ and now _Mark’s_ joining in on the teasing, ‘it’s like this.’ He forces his face into this dopey grin, making his eyes wider than what should be physically possible. It would be cute, if not for the fact that he’s supposed to be imitating Johnny.

‘Okay, kids, no making fun of Dad and his crush on Mr Qian,’ Taeyong scolds. Johnny’s about to whisper a thank you at his husband, but Taeyong’s smirking as much as the boys. ‘That’s _my_ job.’

‘Jisung is the only person I can trust in this house,’ Johnny huffs. Jisung looks up, finally drawn away from the bright colours and songs of the TV. His eyes flit from his brothers to Johnny, before finally landing on Taeyong with that careful little tilt of his head.

‘Do _you_ have a crush on Mr Qian?’ he asks Taeyong.

 

 

‘So, you guys have a crush on me?’

In hindsight, they should have probably told the kids _not_ to mention the whole crush on Mr Qian thing.

Chenle had seemed a quiet child, when he trailed after Renjun and Kun into the living room of their house. But twenty minutes later had him, Jisung and Donghyuck thick as thieves. It was cute, and reassuring in that way that seeing your kid play with other kids his age always is, and Johnny had thought nothing of it as they served Kun a cup of tea and chatted while the kids played.

Dinner had been fun, but messy. Johnny and Taeyong had been particularly impressed by Renjun and Chenle’s quiet acceptance of their vegetables. He didn’t even have to bargain with them to eat all the broccoli, whilst Mark had pushed his around a couple of minutes before sliding it onto Donghyuck’s plate when no-one was looking.

The real trouble happened when Johnny was putting everything into the dishwasher. Jisung had whispered (half-screamed) in Chenle’s ear _‘My daddies have a crush on your daddy!’_ and Johnny nearly dropped a glass. Taeyong had spluttered out some sort of excuse while the kids had giggled into the dessert. 

Kun had calmly sent the kids into Mark’s room, Renjun and Chenle leading them without even a hint of complaining.

Johnny feels pinned in place, standing by the dishwasher, when Kun turns to look at him. Taeyong isn’t shy, not when it matters, so his chin is tipped up and his eyes only betray a little of his worry as he slips into the space of Johnny’s side. Kun’s smile grows, nothing wicked or judgemental, and Johnny’s heart thuds in either fear or attraction at the sight of it.

‘Are you going to answer me?’ he asks, quiet and firm in the space between them.

‘Yes.’

It takes Johnny a moment to realise that he was the one to speak. Taeyong squeezes his hand, grounding Johnny in the moment, and Johnny wants to press a kiss to his temple in thanks. But the time isn’t right, the mood isn’t right, Kun is watching them and waiting and Johnny isn’t sure what for.

‘Sit down, _please.’_

Johnny and Taeyong settle into place, opposite Kun. It’s their house, their kitchen table, but Johnny feels powerless in the face of the Kun’s calm smile. He resists the urge to clasp his hands in his lap, to bow his head, and instead tangles his fingers with Taeyong’s on top of the table.

‘I suppose the next question is,’ Kun hesitates, only for a moment, ‘do the pair of you intend to act on this crush of yours, or shall we just pretend that this conversation never happened?’

Johnny finally looks away from Kun, meets Taeyong’s eyes. There’s a curve to Taeyong’s brown, a small tightness to the edge of his lips and a tilt to his chin that Johnny knows like the back of his hand. The answer to Kun’s question isn’t Johnny’s, but he knows that Taeyong will say the right thing.

 

 

Johnny looks at the looming school in trepidation. With time has come the realisation that the school is far more intimidating when your kids aren’t hanging off you and chattering about the health benefits of fruit roll ups. He isn’t driving this time, which means he can’t even turn the car around and drive to the safety of the nearest fast food restaurant.

‘Do we have to go inside?’ he asks, from the passenger seat.

‘Yes, we do,’ Taeyong says, fingers still clenched around the steering wheel. He hasn’t budged either, eyes fixed on the crowds of parents that make their way into the school. ‘This is for the end of year barbeque, which you’re helping out on.’

‘Can’t they just text me details?’

‘Babe, we have to go in,’ Taeyong says, finally unbuckling the seatbelt and opening the car door. ‘We have to do it, for the boys.’

‘I don’t want to go in.’

‘Would the two of you please stop complaining?’ Kun laughs as he gets out of the backseat. ‘It’s a harmless PTA meeting, we’ll be in and out in an hour and a half.’

‘Easy for you to say,’ Johnny grumbles as they lock the car behind them. They’re quick to fall into step with each other, Kun’s hands reaching for his and Taeyong’s. Johnny’s only just managed to stop himself from sweating so much when they hold hands. ‘Pete and Deborah are too scared of Renjun to come near you. Why can’t Donghyuck be that scary?’

‘He’s lulling them into a false sense of security,’ Kun assures them.

‘If you say so,’ Taeyong rolls his eyes.

Kun laughs, and stops them where they are so he can press a light kiss to Taeyong’s lips. It’s Johnny’s favourite sight, and he knows he’s smiling dopily before Kun leans up to kiss him as well. ‘I know so. Now, can we please go inside? You two are embarrassing me with your dawdling.’

 


End file.
